This week's @steemiteducation homework assignment happens to be right in my wheelhouse.
Specifically, it points out that:
Students of all abilities and backgrounds want classrooms that are inclusive and convey respect. For those students with disabilities, the classroom setting may present certain challenges that need accommodation and consideration.
ABC's Speechless is the most realistic deception of a student with special needs that I have ever seen.
Then they ask what we do in order to meet these unique needs.
Although I would never presume to have all of the answers, I have been a special educator for nearly twenty years. During that time, I have worked with students with a variety of disabilities. So although I will not claim to be the guru on the subject, I do have a wealth of experience.
I decided to approach this question as if I were talking to a first year high school teacher (although these basic ideas will transfer to any age). If he or she were to ask, "How do I treat a student with a disability?"
My immediate response would be, "Like a student."
This is of course a play on my overall attitude of always treating a person with a disability... like a person.
In this case, it means that a teacher should interact with a student with special needs the same way he/she interacts with all of their students. Avoid talking down to the student. Make sure to communicate with the student as much as you would with any other student. Be respectful and kind, but don't treat them like a baby.
Perhaps the best example of this is a teacher assistant who worked at my school for years. Although he was younger than me and didn't have a fancy piece of parchment to hang on the wall, I learned more from him than any of my college professors. The best way I could describe the way he interacted with his students is that he treated them the way a 21 year old sibling would treat their 15 year old brother. Although he was clearly the boss and he was there to help the students, he also joked around with them the same way he would joke around with anyone. He spoke to them in the same tones and about the same subjects as he would with any other student their age.
He valued and respected them... and they loved him for it.
Next, I would stress the importance of focusing on what each student can do rather than what they cannot. Every student is good at something. A teacher's job is to find that ability and to find ways for the student to apply it in the classrooms. This past year, I had a student in my class who was on the Autism Spectrum. He had a very difficult time putting his thoughts into words. Sometimes he became violent when pressed to do so. But he could draw. Oh my gosh could he draw! Therefore, while others were writing about the Roman Empire, he was drawing it. The cartoons he created were amazing!
If a student is unable to do the exact task other students are attempting, find a way to allow the student to come as close as possible. If a student is in a wheelchair, it is silly to think that he can possibly dunk a basketball... or is it? What if you had a ramp that would allow him access to the basketball rim? While others are improving their leaping ability, he could be working on increasing the arm strength required to roll his chair up the ramp. Or what if you were able to lower the rim so he could use a smaller ramp?
Sometimes all that is needed is a little creativity and the willingness to make changes that will benefit our students.
All of us can do the same things in our academic classes. If a student has a lower reading ability than his classmates, he needs to practice strategies as much as possible, but from time to time, if the message of the reading is what is truly important, then an audio book may do the trick.
Honestly the main barrier is not the student's ability, it is the teachers willingness to be flexible and to find ways for each student to grow as much as possible. If the only thing a teacher will accept is a well written five paragraph essay, then a student who cannot write will be a failure. However, if that same student is allowed to express her ideas verbally, amazing things can happen!
Although I could probably talk this new teacher's ear off for several weeks, I would want to keep my advice as simple as possible. Therefore, I would end with: make sure to have high expectations of your students with disabilities.
Far too many people feel sorry for people with disabilities. Empathy and kindness are wonderful... pity is not. Pity is not going to help a student function in the real world after they graduate. Pity is not going to help them learn how to make and keep friends. Pity is not going to make them a better reader or thinker.
But a teacher will... if that teacher has high expectations for their students.
I realize we are not all physical education teachers, however stories from this realm always seem to make for the best examples. I have a friend who teaches "adventure education". It is an amazing class that teaches kids how to rock climb, camp, and kayak. On the first day of class, Joe always begins by having his kids climb one singular and very high rope. He wants to challenge them right off the bat.
Joe told me this story:
One day, as Joe was conducting his rope lesson, a student entered the gym late. It seems he had a little bit of trouble with his locker and getting into his uniform. The heavy steel door slammed behind him as Reggie and his crutches awkwardly squeezed through the small opening he made. He steadied himself and approached the class.
Joe's mouth dropped. Which counselor was playing a trick on him? "This kid can't use his legs", he thought. "How in the Hell is he going to do anything in this class?", he pondered. Joe hoped that the other students would take so long with the activity that the bell would ring before this student got a chance to embarrass himself. Sadly, none of the other students made it very far, so there was plenty of time for the last student to take his turn.
Joe asked Reggie if he were sure he wanted to try this. He said he would not mark him down if he chose not to. Reggie did indeed want to give it a try. Against his better judgement, Joe helped Reggie into the safety harness that all the students had been required to wear. Reggie laid his crutches down and Joe helped him to the rope.
A minute later Reggie was at the top of the rope ringing the victory bell that no other student had even come close to.
Joe's mouth dropped for a second time that class.
The class clapped and cheered.
One student looked at Joe, smiled and said, "We probably should have told you that Reggie is a total badass."
Joe laughed too.
Then he vowed never to lower his expectations ever again. He now encourages kids with special needs to take his class.
Again, classroom teachers can do the same thing. We can all have high expectations of every student. Kids will rise to the occasion. If we let them know that they do not have to do as much as others because they have to work harder or it takes them longer, then that is what they will do... less. And doing less has never made anyone stronger. A teacher's job is to put kids in potions where they can make themselves stronger. Teachers need to find what level a student is at and then provide challenges that will allow the students to take themselves further than they ever imagined.
How do I work with students with disabilities? I work with them the same way I work with any student (or my own children):
- I treat them with the same dignity and respect I treat all people
- I focus on what they can do and change my methods to correspond to these abilities
- I have high expectations
Oh and don't be afraid to ask for help. If you are having a tough time finding a way to do all of those things, ask a colleague. You could also ask the student. When it comes to helping kids, we should all be pulling on the same rope.
Lovely
Great idea .. But the beginning is difficult and the lessons must be practical
Thanks for your initiative .. well done. Good luck..
As always, an excellent post!
My sons teacher called me in for a meeting at the start of school this year, he was new to our school and had only just read over my sons records and discovered he had ASD. He asked a million questions and wanted to get to know my boy, then he asked the most important question, How far are you willing for me to push him? I answered, the same as every other student, just understand that he will reach their level on his own terms and in his own way.
My son has come further this year then even I expected, all because his teacher treats him as an equal to his peers, not as the boy with a disability! He doesn’t excuse him from activities he struggles with, he adapts them so that Master 7 can succeed.
A good teacher can make all the difference!!!
I am thrilled to hear your son has done so well this year! I think the support from home may have just a little to do with it as well ;)
Sounds like this teacher was a great match for your son and I bet your son worked his butt off this year.
This comment made me so happy!
I used to print out a good sheet from the internet to give my daughters teachers ideas how to help her. then main ones where:
To not raise your voice to them
If they are misbehaving don't make it worse by telling them off, walk past and put your hand on there shoulder.. this is enough to re-focus them.
Not to sit them at the window as far to many distractions.
Keep the class active to keep them interested.
Which by reading your blog you do all of these very well :)
Do you have time to do a post about it? Answers from the parent's point of view are awesome!
Post about what teachers could do, or what a parent could do?
Both. Take what you wrote in your comment and flesh it out a bit. I think it would be awesome! Tag it steemiteducation and make sure I don't miss it. Even post a link to it here.
Is this OK
https://steemit.com/steemiteducation/@karenb54/steemiteducation-adhd-tips-for-parents-and-teachers
They is ability in disabilities, we should always care for those children with disabilities they need our love and care to achieve their dreams. Great post @hanshotfirst
Imagine that. You treat someone like a human being, set high expectations, and they respond positively to that. Glad to see people like yourself out there working with these kids. Too may authority figures in children's lives these days (not just special needs students) treat them like second class subhumans, then they wonder why the children "misbehave" or perform poorly. They just want to be treated with respect, and I think we owe it to them to do so.
Exactly! I get the whole idea that the teacher needs to be "the boss". But you can earn respect while showing respect.
I have spent several of my years teaching as a special education teacher and as a learning support teacher. I think that all too often teachers get caught up in the things that these students can't do and forget that there is a lot that they are capable of. I love that you point out the idea of having high expectations. If we don't have expectations for these kids then how are they ever going to be motivated to set high expectations for themselves? It is so important for them to feel like they are being treated the same as everyone else in the class. They may have special needs that we need to make sure are being accommodated for but that doesn't make them people who should be treated like anything less than a student in your class. They will respect you more for that then being treated like a fragile china doll.
Exactly. Different not less. I didn't know if I wanted to put it in the post but the teacher assistant I was talking about would mess with the kids (never in a mean way) and the kids loved it! Too many people thought they were so fragile that they didn't dare bust their chops like they would with any other teenager. One of the kids he worked with needed to use a communication device because he couldn't speak. So my buddy was the one whose voice was on the machine. For fun (both for him and the kid) he would change up what he said for each button. For example, when the kid ordered a sandwich in the cafeteria, he would push the button that should have been this adult voice saying, "One turkey sandwich please". But Instead my friend recorded, "Put all the cookies in a bag or else!".
It is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. And the kid LOVED it. Obviously the guy had built a very good rapport with the kid by then so he knew the kid would be laughing right along.
Your students are lucky to have you my friend.
It really is that simple or rather hard for some. Be respectful and willing to work with them if need be.
Growing up I was in both good school districts and very bad ones. It mostly came down to how well a place was funded as that affected the kind of training teacher’s received. Some places had quite a few levels to work with for people with special needs. While others they had option A or option B as they had no budget for anything else and you just dealt with the short coming on your own of either option.
Talking down on them and I'll add having the mind set of “this is good for them no matter what” are very dangerous things that I hope most teachers these days have learned not to do. Extra specialized training received or not. Nothing worse than singling out the kid who struggles more than most and making it 100 times harder on them and telling them directly to there face “this is for your own good.” When no one else is being treated as such. Makes you no longer wanting to be engaged in that learning environment.
Excellent post, especially because we are not used to treating people with disabilities, ignorance takes us away from them and we risk knowing great people because of our ignorance.
My admiration to you that has given with the solution, thanks for the recommendations, I will take them into account.
I recently had to give the bad news to a disabled student who had failed, but I focus on giving him encouragement and insists that he never stop pursuing his dreams. Unfortunately the subject that I play taught required group work and groups were not open to him and he did not dare to work alone (I assure you that if I had the courage to work alone I would have done better and would have approved)
I agree that all students should be treated in the same way, paying attention to their particular needs. In my solfeggio class, one of my students is on the autism spectrum, he is quite demanding with himself and it has been a great learning for me in the short time I have been a teacher. Thank you for your contribution, I will take it into account when approaching my group of students.
Very posts informative and functional was. My best friend with disabilities is. He suffered weakness muscle severe and day-to-date their ability to lose. But I believe in those who disabilities are, the ability to a lot, but have to the value given. Have to the ability to their value left, and it worked. This man has a family that eye hope for his children are .. thank share this post and this beautiful
Relationships and understanding. As an educator myself, these are the two most important aspects that I think works with any student, not just those with special needs.
I work mostly with Autistic children and their needs vary from day to day. It is a challenging job and my hat goes off to anyone who works in this field!
Right back at you!
It is so delicate the work of a teacher, in a classroom, I have always argued that the work of a teacher, or rather a good teacher, is invaluable, why? Each child has their own expectations and each teacher also has them, the children think about their sleeves, and maybe a little worried about their special conditions, but the teacher must find the 25 or more ways to earn their trust, no matter their Although they are different or have limitations of learning or physical, a teacher must have the ability to treat equally when it comes to teaching or relationship in the classroom, not because they have special conditions should be treated as younger children, this would be an error and it would affect the child in its development, on the contrary it should be treated in the same way, this makes me feel very good when I read about how you approach it. with such respect and neatness in the subject ... thank you for sharing it sir @hanshotfirst
Very moving article. Reminds me a bit of my own experiences in school. I was very bright, but I had non-verbal learning disability and math was very difficulty to me. Your post hammered home the point that all people want to be treated with dignity and all people have something to contribute the world and can often amaze us if we let them shine. Nice work
See, more evidence that a learning disability has nothing to do with intelligence. Your posts are BRILLIANT!
As a teacher, I was sent to receive training for special needs too. I also have more than one special needs kids but not physical disability. I have a serious autism kid that I placed him in front. He will scream as well as sing song suddenly during lesson. I believe patience is really the key to help special needs children beside being trained. Getting children around to understand them better that they can provide assistance to them rather than mocking or getting irritated by them. It is a good chance to teach values actually. Thanks for sharing your experience to many educators ideas too! Cheers for more great articles! @hanshotfirst
Great point about teaching values to the class!
Students with disabilities should receive the same respect as others, the attitude of the teacher is fundamental in the process of educational inclusion. Very nice your class today, again, giving us the best of your wisdom and experience. God bless you always @hanshotfirts
I wish all teachers would read this. This is so informative and home coming. This point in particular is so true
I have been a private tutor in math, physics, and English for fifteen years now and I had several students with special needs. The thing that I have learned is that there is absolutely NO difference between them and other students. There are good ones and bad ones. I have seen kids with needs using those needs as an excuse to be mean to their teachers and parents and exploiting them, especially when they hit puberty. On the other side, I have met some amazing ones who are a true inspiration to mankind.
People seem to think that children with special needs are all good, nice, and sweet. That is a prejudice too and those kids do not like it at all. When they do something naughty or bad (even just to test the limits), most of them get mad when adults let it slide and ignore their wrongdoings. Psychologically, this sends a really bad message. Not only are they being taught that their actions have no consequences but they are being shown that their actions do not deserve any attention and/or respect.
Kids with special needs still have to have their primal needs met. That means treating them like any other child, with respect, love, support, and kindness but also with lessons on responsibility. I remember one girl told me that she does not want to learn because she does not have to, she has a disability so all doors will always be opened to her. Supporting that kind of thinking is, in my opinion, a wrong approach.
Thank you for sharing this post and opening such an important topic. Sorry for the post-like comment. Speechless is the best show I have seen on this topic because it is realistic, the kid is portrayed in an amazing way.
Great point! A kid with special needs isn't a cartoon character. They are people. Sometimes people mess up. All kids need to be held accountable. That is part of being treated equal.
Thanks for sharing @hanshotfirst. I wish more people would understand that disability doesn't mean lack of intelligence or feeling. Having autistic stepsons I see so often how people treat them like they are stupid. Then I think that the world is often more "autistic" than those on the autistic spectrum!
It is a very common mistake. The answer of course is ... education. People need to learn that disability does not mean "dumb".
The dilemma still remains, however, in mixed-ability classrooms. I am a teacher from Malta, and all our government schools are based on a banding system. This diminished the previous problem that mixed-ability schooling brought with it. The problem was that in one class, a teacher might see a whole spectrum of abilities; those who sometimes teach the teacher certain knowledge, and those who lag behind a year or two. All of this could be found in one class. Opting to banding a few years ago helped the situation, but not solved it. Students who were good but placed in a lower band, knew that they should be in a higher band class. So, the problem was just diminished, but not solved. We do practise inclusive strategies. Students with disabilities are part of a tarditional classroom. However, students with diabilities or learning impairments are often taken out of the classroom, to be given extra focus and care. I disagree with this notion. It is a form of subtle segregation. Pupils are aware of this. the gesture itself presents a hidden curriculum. these people need to be included properly. Universal Design for Learning is an amazing tool adopt in class, where one size can potentially fit all. The teacher needs to be clever enough to help students learn together. On the other hand, I do not find this realistic. It is impossible to for one size to fit all. The knwoeldge one has is not the same as another. Children do not enter schools blank slate. Parental motivation and involvement, characters and personalities, and skills and abiltites are all part of the baggage a child enters with on his/her first day of school. So how could I expect to find the resource or teaching method to fit the whole classroom. It is, if not impossible, exteremely difficult to make. Another issue is this: a teacher can never find an equilibrium between the high and low abiltity students. The high abiltity would find school boring if content is easy, and the low abiltity would feel discouraged if content is too difficult (and again: with this in mind, how could one size fit all?). Therefore, there is no other option but to segregate. I believe that UDL and inclusion is ideal, but not real. Why? The problem remains one: the mainstream. We always test children against standards. The only difference from the past is that those who did not fit the mainstream, they used to be xcluded, but nowadays, they are being segregated and given more attention instead. However, the mainstream still lives among us, and it is a reflection of the labour market, conveying that it will never change. Children should be seen for their abilties, and growth and education should be based on such skills and abilties. They should feel that they always have a place in society, and that they are equally important as anyone else. the system should strive to reach equity not equality, and be fair with every single individual. This is Dewey's perception, which I agree with, but also criticise as unrealistic. As long as capitalism and the mainstream system exist, none of this could ever come into practice.
Wow you should do a post on this! I too agree in strategic inclusion whenever possible.
it is great to see you are back sir
hug information you have added in this post thanks man
All pictures are very good
I'm amazed at this information
Your every post have enough information and story. So I like your blog sir. @hanshotfirst
Go! This is an interesting topic,
I love to read about the improvement that people can have from a wheelchair, there should be more dissemination of this, I wish many blessings for it.
Excellent, THANKS for sharing!
Excelente post, @hanshotfirst.
Very useful. Thank you for sharing..
向您致敬！
想到《奇迹男孩》里默默指点奥吉成长的老师们。不动声色的解围、坚定的信念指导、去特殊性的普遍对待，或许是最好的支撑方式。
I am just wondering how you manage to get this super understanding that can really work wonders. See how nice this quote below is
For one moment i will not talk about the disability, the most important role of teacher is providing the proper education to everyone without any favouritism but unfortunately in this world many disable people are treated differently and this behaviour is not good and it can be discouragement for the disable people, there are many ways from which we can give an equal thought and an thought which can motivate them as we are not different from others we are capable in our own ways but it's just matter of adaptation and an awareness matter for everyone.
Nowadays there are many tools for the disable people which making them once again able towards many things and many playing sports too and that's great thing. So, we can make life easy for disable kids and other people if we can change our thought because the new thought can bring new change.
Thanks for sharing this post with us and wishing you an great day. Stay blessed. 🙂
I liked reading your publication a lot, my friend called my attention a lot because from a very young age he can share classrooms, with a friend with special abilities who was very skilled in many things even more than the common of the classmates, later I had the chance to Being a teacher of a boy, also with special skills and in my later work I had the privilege of working with many of them and also learning from them, true what your post says many times the teachers believe that all students should learn from it way, that is sometimes exclusive, instead of taking advantage of the most outstanding abilities in each one, as a football coach does with his team in which each one plays an important role taking into account the abilities of each one, I I'm fond of drawing I recommend you see the anime naruto from its beginning there show the life of different children the main character rejected by society, another that He does not have any of the usual abilities to be a ninja, and he must strive a hundred times more than the others, another boy who is lazy but has the intellectual capacity of a genius, and a chubby boy who takes advantage of that in his favor and all of them form a synergy by uniting their capabilities.
Such an incredibly commendable thing you do @hanshotfirst . Thank you. Btw, I think ( those photos) is the show with Minnie Driver in it. I have caught a few of them... liked it a lot
That approach of yours is very productive because it is flexible. And you adapt, always maintaining as you say the same treatment. What is required is observation in order to come up with the best strategies to support students with disabilities. And from there, they can manage themselves, and we as teachers can guide along the way.